Distillery makes La.'s first legal whiskey since Prohibition

Saturday

Dec 21, 2013 at 12:35 AM

Thibodaux-based Donner-Peltier Distillers has begun selling what is claimed to be the first whiskey produced in Louisiana since before Prohibition.

Thibodaux-based Donner-Peltier Distillers has begun selling what is claimed to be the first whiskey produced in Louisiana since before Prohibition. LA 1, named after the solitary road leading to Grand Isle and Port Fourchon, was unveiled for purchase for the first time Friday, with the initial 170 bottles selling for $45 each after spending 10 months in heavily charred white oak barrels. Those wanting to try it may have to wait another month, according to sales manager Johnny Culpepper. All but about 20 of the initial batch are already accounted for. The remaining bottles will be sold exclusively out of the distillery's store on St. Patrick Street in Thibodaux. Initial samples of the whiskey have been met with rave reviews by the few who have tried it. Introducing the whiskey was a gamble for a company that already rotates between five production liquors — three rums, a gin and a vodka. Russ Bergeron, bar manager and sommelier at the famed Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, said the introduction of a local whiskey could be promising in the New Orleans market. “I have not had a chance to try the whiskey, but from what I've heard, they are happy with how it turned out,” Bergeron said. “It is definitely exciting to see them growing. Our customers do like the local products.”The Roosevelt added Donner-Peltier's Rougaroux 13 Pennies rum to its menu after it was released in early November. Bergeron said the drink quickly became one of the most popular on the menu and indicated interest in carrying more of the local distiller's products in the future. It's not the first time Donner-Peltier distiller Tyson Frizzell has handled aged whiskey. Frizzell relocated last December to take the job after spending several years working at Rogue Distillery in Newport, Ore., which produces several varieties of whiskey popular in the Pacific Northwest.Frizzell said the task of introducing yet another variety of alcohol to Donner-Peltier's liquor lineup was a risky endeavor that appears to have paid off. “When we first started tapping these barrels we knew we had something really special,“ Frizzell said. “It was a moment of pride. When you wait as long as we have, 10 months, and you pour that first glass and are excited about it, and you see other people excited about it, that's when this job really pays off,”Frizzell said the distillers had a good feeling about the whiskey when it went into the barrel, but the aging process is shrouded in uncertainty. To reduce the aging time and increase the flavor of the whiskey, Donner-Peltier reduced the quantity of tails, or the final liquid that comes out of the distillation process, which contains chemicals that bind themselves to the char in the oak barrels and extend the aging process. With fewer tails, the flavor from the char is more rapidly released into the whiskey, and the final product has fewer chemicals such as prophynols that can amplify the effect of a hangover, Frizzell said. The production process for all of Donner-Peltier's liquors begins in much the same fashion, with raw ingredients being boiled to release sugars, then combined and loaded into a fermenting tank and left to sit for 10 days. LA 1, like the rums, vodka and gin that came before it, prominently features locally grown ingredients including Louisiana-grown rice, a rarity in whiskey that Frizzell credits for his product's faint sweetness. The rice is combined with corn, rye and malt.The fermented ingredients, called the wash, make up a cloudy bubbly liquid that resembles many beers. That is then boiled so the alcohol evaporates and is condensed through two different distillation pots, yielding a clear, 120 proof liquid that is then taken down to 96 proof and loaded into barrels where it develops its color and smoky flavor.Mass production of the whiskey would not be feasible in the near term given the space constraints at the distiller's current location, Culpepper said, but expansion could change that in the future as the company prepares to effectively double the capacity of its fermentation tanks in 2014.

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